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As the relationship between Barnabas and Nellie became more comfortable, Nellie became more worried. When her mind told her to stop, her body would do the complete opposite. She wasn't kissing him, no, but she was letting him know too much about her. He was desperate to get to know her, and she was becoming less dominant. Nellie hated being weak.

Mrs. Lovett found a job at a local bakery. The pay was alright and she didn't have a lot of work to do. She made cakes, cupcakes, and muffins, and then sold them at the counter. It was way easier than the job she had before. Of course, it was all going fine, until Barnabas sent her flowers, the bastard. Her knees nearly gave out when a huge bouquet of flowers arrived during her work shift. She told herself to ignore it, just to pretend that she didn't care, but the first thing she did when she arrived home was thank Barnabas like a nervous little school girl. He was obviously pleased, causing Nellie to be even more upset.

As the weather became colder, Mrs. Lovett knew she'd have to stay inside more. That meant more time with Barnabas. She knew she'd let herself fall for his charming notions. They weren't courting or anything, but no one ever treated her this way before. While she enjoyed the small amount of time she spent with the man, she went to bed every night thinking about how she hated herself for it.

Mrs. Lovett cursed at herself in her head when she saw the first snowfall. She knew what would happen. Ever since Nellie was a child, there were two things she adored: the seaside and the snow. There was something so appealing about the two, they were so completely romantic that Nellie couldn't bear to experience them alone.

"Beautiful, ain't it?" Nellie asked Barnabas, sitting on the couch near the window. A cup of tea was cradled in her small hands and the fireplace was burning in front of her.

"What's that?" Barnabas asked, taken out of his daydreams concerning Nellie. Unlike his housemate, he thought everything was going quite well between them. He considered them to be friends.

"The fallin' snow, Barnabas. It's so beautiful 'ere, I can see it everywhere. Wasn't like that in London. Pretty, but not like this," Mrs. Lovett mused quietly.

Barnabas, not noticing the snow, raised his eyebrows and looked outside. "Almost as beautiful as you, indeed," he said in a whisper.

"What?"

"I said it's beautiful," the vampire quickly responded. He knew he couldn't be too forward, Nellie didn't like that.

"Yeah, I know. I could sit 'ere and watch it all day."

"Perhaps we could watch it outdoors? I know of a place we could go, Nellie, it's surrounded by trees and there's a small frozen lake in the middle. Perhaps I could find some of my niece's old skates for you," Barnabas suggested nervously.

Nellie, raising her eyebrow, scoffed a bit. "I can't ice skate, Barnabas," she said softly, looking at the floor. Of course she could ice skate, but she hadn't done it in a while. She couldn't go ice skating with a man that was trying to charm her so desperately. She sighed, looking outside again. It was quite gorgeous. 'You've always wanted a winter romance...' her mind reminded her. Clenching her fists, Mrs. Lovett looked back to Barnabas. "Fine," she abruptly said in a stern ton. "Yeah, we can go."

"You'll go?" Barnabas questioned, suddenly excited because he thought she'd refuse.

"Yeah," Mrs. Lovett tried to say seriously, but her voice gave out at the end. She left her tea on the small table and quickly got up, going to get dressed in her room. She was too nervous for words. She had always dreamed that Sweeney would ask her to go out in the snow, and yes, she had planned it all out, but this was very different. Barnabas made her giddy and even a bit flirty. Taking a deep breath and clearing her mind, Nellie put on all of her warm clothes, and then two pairs of gloves and earmuffs. 'Don't do this, Eleanor,' the voice in her head warned. Mrs. Lovett, avoiding the mixed emotions in her mind, went downstairs and saw Barnabas in the same outfit, only with a light coat over it.

"I found the skates for you. But I'll hold them," the man said timidly.

Nellie, giving him a nod, walked closer and let him help her put her coat on. "Won't you be cold?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Certainly not," Barnabas responded with a smile. He held his arm out for Mrs. Lovett, and she took it willingly. Once they were outside, Barnabas led them to the left and then into the woods. Nellie looked up, watching the snowflakes fall from the sky and drop into the trees.

"Why didn't ya bring your umbrella today?" she asked the man next to her.

Barnabas looked at Nellie with a worried face, then shrugged. "There's no sun out," he said hesitantly.

Nellie sighed, not understanding the man, and then leaned her head on his shoulder. She was no doubt causing confusion to Barnabas as well as herself. But, for the first time since she'd arrived, Nellie let it go and forced her mind to be quiet. She simply enjoyed the scenery as she thought dreamily about the fact that a man was treating her like a lady. Barnabas led her through the woods until the baker finally saw the small, frozen lake he was talking about earlier. He smiled at her and handed her the ice skates, Nellie taking them with a wink and going to a nearby log to sit down and put them on.

"You're not gonna skate with me?" she asked with a pouty face.

"There weren't any more sets of skates. And I don't know how," Barnabas admitted, now regretting it. If Nellie wanted him to, he'd definitely buy a pair of ice skates and learn for her. He'd do anything.

Shrugging, Nellie tied the ice skates and got up slowly. "Fine. I guess I'll just have to put a show on for ya then," she said with a giggle. She shakily walked over to the lake and her left foot on, then her right foot. Finally, the baker gained her balance on the sheet of ice and began to skate around. Once she got used to it she started to go faster, spinning and making figure eights in the ice. The small woman closed her eyes and tilted her head up, letting snow fall onto her face. She couldn't remember the last time she was this happy.

Barnabas was also enjoying his time here. He sat on the log, watching his housemate with glistening eyes as she skated on the frozen lake. She had red cheeks and an even brighter red nose, but she didn't seem to notice at all. Barnabas found himself smiling at her beauty. If only she would give him a chance, he was confident that he'd give her a nice life. They only kissed twice, but that was enough for Barnabas to know that he wanted more. It was a bad trait of his, he fell for women a little too quickly. He had a feeling he'd have to work hard for this one.

Mrs. Lovett giggled as she spun in circles. That is, until she felt a crack. Nellie tried to stop as quickly as she could, not knowing if the ice was about to break under her. She found herself unable to stop as she looked down at the ice which was one second away from cracking and falling into the freezing water below. The woman screamed as she felt herself fall, but as quickly as the ice broke, someone was holding her. She fell into the snow with wide eyes, realizing that Barnabas was now on top of her. She was laying in the snow but she didn't feel it too much because of her large coat and, well- the man on top of her. She stared up at him, wondering how it was humanly possible for him to run over to the lake and save her that quickly.

"H-how'd you do that?" she asked in a whisper.

Barnabas, moving his hand to Nellie's face to wipe her hair out of the way, looked at her worriedly. "I-...I saw you were about to fall," he whispered back. He didn't move off of her.

Mrs. Lovett looked up at the man as he stared down at her, focusing on her red nose and chattering lips. Her eyebrows furrowed for a second. She didn't want him to move. As crazy as it was, she wanted to stay right here in the snow.

"Kiss me."

Gulping, Barnabas nodded, this being exactly what he was waiting for. He leaned down and connected lips with hers. He heard her let out a small moan as her gloved hand reached up and touched his hair, effectively putting some snowflakes into it. They continued to kiss, quite passionately indeed. Barnabas knew that these kisses were different than the ones from the last two times. Nellie was letting him in, letting him love her as a man should. He didn't know how long it had been, but he felt Nellie begin to shiver. He pulled away and looked at her with a small frown. "You're cold."

"No, I'm not," the tiny woman responded, shaking her head. "Keep going."

Smirking, Barnabas shook his head back at her. "Yes, you are. We can

keep going at home, if you like. You need warmth." The vampire slowly climbed off of Mrs. Lovett. He got her boots and then put them on as fast as possible for her. He helped her out of the snow and then wrapped one arm around her as they began to walk back to Collinwood.

Walking as close to him as possible, Nellie enjoyed the warmth he was giving her, inside and outside of her body. No words were said as they strolled back, but both were thinking the same thing. They knew that they wanted more, they knew that they couldn't resist each other. The two were more than ready to love and be loved.